Rome yesterday and today between ancient and contemporary art

Rome is not just antiquity, ruins, and archaeological findings. It’s also Renaissance, modern, and contemporary art. And it’s a city where in the same neighborhood, like Trastevere for example, history, art, and nightlife coexist.

So let’s embark on a journey through the streets of the Capital, but also through time.

How can I find out if there are current exhibitions at the MAXXI museum?

The MAXXI (National Museum of 21st Century Arts) is in the Flaminio district, just north of Rome’s center, near the Foro Italico and the Olympic Stadium.

Designed by British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid and inaugurated in 2010, it is one of the main contemporary art museums in Italy. For architecture lovers, the building itself is very interesting, with its unique forms and innovative structure.

A container of art and creativity

The MAXXI is not just a museum, but a true container and engine of events and initiatives. Its purpose is not only to exhibit works of art, but to promote creativity in every way. It is therefore a place of encounter, dialogue, exchange, creation, innovation, and experimentation.

Among MAXXI’s wide offerings, exhibitions are certainly one of the most interesting aspects. The museum spaces provide an almost non-stop flow of events. A great variety of photographic exhibitions, installations, and thematic events on everything that characterizes the culture, art, and society of our present era.

Practical information for your visit

The official website has an entire section dedicated to current and upcoming exhibitions, where you can find all the information about what interests you most and what you’d like to see.

Naturally, you can also purchase tickets online for the exhibitions on the website, with the option to add a guided tour to your regular ticket.

Subscribing to the newsletter is the most effective way to stay updated on events and exhibitions organized at MAXXI.

How to visit Palazzo Doria Pamphilj?

In the heart of Rome’s historic center, there’s a historic residence that could rival some European royal courts in size and splendor.

We’re talking about Palazzo Doria Pamphilj, one of Rome’s most prestigious and fascinating palaces, whose origin dates back to the 16th century and which has seen the destinies of Italy’s greatest aristocracies intertwine over the centuries.

The palace is a true treasure chest of artistic masterpieces, as well as architectural beauty.

Artistic treasures to discover

The main artworks are located in the so-called Four Arms of the Gallery. The setup preserves the one commissioned in the 18th century. This means that if you visit the Gallery, you’ll see it virtually the same as a nobleman visiting three centuries ago. Not bad as an experience, huh?

But many other rooms house sculptures and paintings of immense artistic value. Like the Velázquez Cabinet, for example. It’s a room so named because it contains the portrait of Pope Innocent X (born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj), created in 1650 by none other than Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velázquez.

Just a few meters away, you can admire the marble bust of the same pontiff, sculpted by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

Unmissable masterpieces

In the Aldobrandini Hall, you’ll find works by three other great masters of painting: Salome with the Head of the Baptist by Titian, Double Portrait by Raphael, and The Sleeping Endymion by Guercino.

Not to mention the four small rooms called Salette sul Corso, overlooking Via del Corso (which connects Piazza del Popolo to Piazza Venezia), where you can admire The Rest on the Flight into Egypt and Saint John the Baptist by Caravaggio.

Also not to be missed is a visit, included in the ticket, to the private apartments, open to the public since 2023.

But we’ve only mentioned the most famous names, the main rooms and works among all that Palazzo Doria Pamphilj offers to the eyes.

Information for your visit

The entrance is at Via del Corso 305, just a few minutes’ walk from Piazza Venezia. The closest metro stops are “Barberini” (Line A) and Colosseo (Line B).

Opening hours from Monday to Thursday are from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM, while from Friday to Sunday from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM.

On the official website of Palazzo Doria Pamphilj, in addition to getting an overview of everything you can admire, you can directly purchase tickets for your visit.

You can choose the day you want to visit the palace, based on available times.

It will be a beautiful journey into a past told by works of art and noble environments. But a past that is still alive, given that even today, after so many centuries, the Doria Pamphilj family still lives in the family palace!

What are the best ways to explore the Trastevere neighborhood?

Trastevere is one of those typical cases of former working-class neighborhoods, once inhabited by a rather low social class and even somewhat notorious, which over time has transformed into a fashionable place.

It’s located on the right bank of the Tiber, starting approximately from St. Peter’s and running along the river to the south. From its past, this neighborhood preserves the traditional look of its narrow streets and, to some extent, its buildings.

The atmosphere of Trastevere

Especially during the day, before the tourist invasion that particularly occurs in the evening, you can still breathe a bit of the air of Rome from several decades ago.

You can easily reach Trastevere by tram numbers 3 and 8, but also by numerous buses that travel and make stops along the Tiber near Trastevere.

The neighborhood shows very different faces depending on whether you visit during the day or evening. In the morning and afternoon, it’s very nice to walk through its alleys in the sunlight, perhaps have breakfast or even stop for lunch at one of the many open-air restaurants.

Places to visit

Among the places to visit is definitely the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, located in the square of the same name, which is somewhat the historic center of the neighborhood. A visit to the Museum of Rome in Trastevere can also be interesting, hosting both temporary exhibitions and a collection of paintings entirely dedicated to the city of Rome and its artists.

Around aperitif time, the neighborhood begins to change its face to assume, within a couple of hours, that of the nightlife. From early evening until late at night, the small squares and narrow streets of Trastevere fill up even more with tourists (but also many Romans).

Nightlife

It starts with an aperitif and continues with dinner in one of the numerous restaurants, trattorias, and pizzerias, trying to avoid the more touristy ones and discover the more typical ones. Then you can continue the evening between a cocktail and a beer, or simply walking in an atmosphere that is simultaneously festive, a bit chaotic, but always fascinating and evocative.

If you vacation in Rome during summer, you’ll discover that along the Tiber, temporary open-air bars, restaurants, and shops are set up right on the riverbank.

Tiber Island and the Janiculum

In Trastevere, there’s also another very characteristic place in Rome: Tiber Island, a small island located right in the middle of the river. Here you’ll find the famous Fatebenefratelli Hospital, which today is called Gemelli Isola. But Tiber Island is also home to the Island of Cinema, an open-air film festival that takes place every summer.

Another place worth visiting, easily reachable from Trastevere, is the nearby Janiculum Hill, with its famous promenade that offers one of the most beautiful panoramas of the city.

The most fun way to get there? Sidecar Tour in Rome obviously has a tour dedicated to the Janiculum!

Are there specialized tours on the history of Ancient Rome?

If you love history and antiquity, Rome is a dream come true for you. The entire historic center of the city is practically a full immersion into the past.

However, there are places that become even more beautiful and interesting if you visit them with a specialized guide.

Guided tours of historical monuments

Think, for example, of the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. Visiting them alone is already an incredible experience, especially if you’ve taken care to study something beforehand. But if someone reveals to you the secrets, hidden corners, and backstories of history… well, it’s a whole different experience.

Alternatively, you can get audio guides, even simply through smartphone apps. This way, you’ll have the freedom and autonomy to visit places on your own, with the added richness of information about what you’re seeing.

Then there are places you can only visit if accompanied. For example, the catacombs or the secrets of underground Rome, to combine the excitement of feeling a bit like archaeologists and a bit like speleologists. Because underground Rome holds surprises that someone who only visits the surface cannot even imagine!

How do you access the Mausoleum of Augustus?

The Mausoleum of Augustus is located on one side of the very central Piazza Augusto Imperatore.

It’s a very unique monument because it’s one of the largest circular tombs of the ancient world. Augustus, the first emperor of Rome, also known by his birth name Octavian, had it built at the end of the Egyptian campaign.

History of the mausoleum

We’re in 28 BC, three years after Rome defeated and subjugated the Egyptian kingdom of Cleopatra and Antony (their love and political story being one of the most famous of antiquity and perhaps all of history).

After receiving the ashes not only of Augustus but also his family members and other emperors, the mausoleum has had other uses over the centuries. For example, in the Middle Ages, the Colonna family transformed it into a fortress, while in more recent times, between the 19th and 20th centuries, it served as a theater and concert hall.

Musicians such as Arturo Toscanini, Pietro Mascagni, Igor Stravinsky, and Gustav Mahler performed there, and from 1908 to 1936, it was the headquarters of the Orchestra of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia.

Visit information

The Mausoleum of Augustus, after many decades of disuse and following an accurate restoration, was reopened to the public in 2021. Unfortunately, however, today its interior is temporarily closed to visits again to allow for the redevelopment work of Piazza Augusto Imperatore.

To visit it, we must therefore have a little more patience.

As you can see, the beauty and historical richness of Rome span across epochs and styles from antiquity to today, intersecting major events with the lives of families and individuals.

How can you avoid getting lost in this uninterrupted flow of art and culture?

Thanks to the routes and guides of Sidecar Tour in Rome, you can choose to see the most beautiful and famous historical places of the Eternal City aboard an iconic Vespa!